DOCUMENTS

July 30, 2002

Did You Know...that the citizens served by City of Frederick water have made a remarkable conservation effort, saving hundreds of thousands of gallons during the current drought emergency?

Did You know...that because of the citizens' conservation efforts, the City of Frederick's Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund, which is supposed to be self-sufficient, is expected to have a revenue shortfall?

Did You Know...that the solution to this shortfall, as proposed by Mayor Jennifer Dougherty, is to raise the water and sewer rates for city water customers, thus "rewarding" them for their conservation of this precious resource?

Did You Know...that their is something very wrong with this picture and that it is another example of the mayor's lack of governmental experience before her inauguration in January, just six months ago?

Did You Know...that numerous Democrats and other detractors of State Senator Alex Mooney (R., 3rd) have been complaining for years that the young official raises much of his campaign money from persons and organizations outside the confines of his election district?

Did You Know...that Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who is seeking to replace Gov. Parris N. Glendening, has held at least one fund-raiser outside Maryland, this one at Hyannis Port, Mass.?

Did you know...that the Mooney detractors are being mum on the Townsend efforts to raise money for her campaign outside Maryland?

Do You Know...the meaning of the word hypocrisy?

Did You Know...that the City of Frederick has come up with a reasonable solution to the perceived problem with The Ten Commandments Monument in Memorial Grounds Park. The plan would necessitates the official establishment of the park as Memorial Ground, which was required in the original deed from the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ Church to the city and county in 1924, and to either place the park in the city's current Historic District, or to create a separate historic district just for the park?

Did you know...that there are at least 326 people whose remains are still there, despite the hoopla in 1913 surrounding the removal of the bodies of Barbara and John Fritchie and 11 others, and the re-internment in Mt. Olivet Cemetery?

Did You Know...that city officials are saying they are getting little cooperation from the county commissioners? And that they are claiming that all the county commissioners want to do is fight any potential lawsuit by the ACLU in court, rather than find another - less costly - solution?

Did You Know...that County Commissioner Rick Weldon said in the first meeting of the commissioners over this issue that the property in question was a cemetery and will always remain as a cemetery no matter what the ACLU decides to do?

Did You Know...that Delegate Sue Hecht (D.,3rd) has garnered a reputation in some quarters of claiming credit for things she has not done, or has had very little to do with, and that she has trained Frederick Mayor Dougherty and County Commissioner Jan Gardner to do the same thing?

Did You Know...that Ms. Hecht has been actively recruiting Democratic women to run for public office, but denying her role in their candidacy?

Did You Know...that too many people, from both parties, refuse to support candidates from the other party for any office just because they are from the other party, despite the fact that frequently the candidates from the other party are the better candidates?

Did You Know...that David Gray, president of the Board of County Commissioners who is seeking a seat in the Maryland General Assembly as a state senator from District 4, has tried to get a pay raise for the county commissioners every year he has been in office, and has been unsuccessful every time, and that the salary of a state senator will rise over the next four years to more than $43,000 per year?

Did You Know...that Mr. Gray has supplemented his salary of $30,000 per year as a county commissioner by assisting his wife in her tax return preparation business in Walkersville?

Did You Know...that the General Assembly meets from early January until mid-April every year, which just happens to coincide with the busiest time of the year for accountants and tax-preparers?

And so it goes. There is a whole lot more that we need to know about local politics, but those little known facts will have to wait for another column.

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